"There's a trickle-down effect. I think he gives guys confidence. It allows us to play small with more size and more force," he said.

Hayward shot 6 of 17 from the field, including 2 of 8 on three-pointers.

"I think, hopefully, we can be better than we were last year," he said. "That's kind of been our mindset. We wanted to close out more games than last year. We had a big one tonight that we closed out."

George Hill had 23 points and nine assists for the Jazz, who have won three of four. Rodney Hood added 18 points while Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors each had 13.

Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 28 for the Knicks, who have lost three of four. Derrick Rose had 18.